Interview with David Sterling, Co-Founder of LOOT Interactive

LOOT Interactive is the new publishing firm that's making their big debut at this years E3. Once partnered with Sony and creating content for the Playstation® Home, LOOT is now bringing new titles to Playstation systems.  At E3, they play to unveil their first titles, Whispering Willows, Back to Bed, and Velocibox. LOOT has a firm history in the industry, developing apps and publishing games as a subsidiary of Sony. Now they're ready to break away as their own independent publisher. Their co-founder, David Sterling, offered to give us some more insight into LOOT's plans and their move away from Sony.

TechRaptor: Can you introduce yourself and LOOT Interactive?

David Sterling: Hello, I’m David Sterling, co-founder and managing director of LOOT Interactive, formerly LOOT Entertainment, a game publisher specializing in bringing great indie games to gaming consoles based in Culver City, CA. In addition to games, we develop interactive experiences for mobile and connected devices. We are a small but mighty team of die-hard gamers that just happen to also have deep experience and specialization in game and application development and publishing on PlayStation®, Xbox®, mobile and Smart TVs.

TechRaptor: With PlayStation Home closing, not everyone knows of LOOT’s history, care to share that with us?

David: Great question. LOOT began as an internal division within the Sony Pictures Digital Authoring Center. Our first task was to establish ourselves as a developer for PlayStation® Home, focusing on creating virtual goods and experiences centered around entertainment industry IP. As a Home developer, we created many items and experiences including hundreds of virtual items and spaces like the Hollywood Hills House, Ghostbuster® Firehouse, Men in Black® HQ and the Space Apartment. One of our proudest Home moments was the development of the Entertainment on Demand System, which allowed Home users to watch content, in-sync while being able to text and voice chat in real time. We called it “Social Viewing.” A huge accomplishment to this day!

In 2012, we took the plunge and launched our mobile game and PlayStation application development services. After releasing many OTT apps on PS3 & PS4, Forsaken Planet on mobile and developing Fluster Cluck for PlayStation, we realized we had a unique advantage in the porting and publishing industry and found our calling. Shortly thereafter, we entered the publishing business with one very important mission: To bring great indie games to the console gaming community. Our first release, The Last Tinker: City Of Colors went on sale in August 2014. Since then, we have released Fluster Cluck (Oct 2014) and Q*bert™: ReBooted (Feb 2015) on PlayStation. With Whispering Willows, Back to Bed, and Velocibox due out this summer and four more titles in production for 2015 and early 2016 release, including our first cross platform release in September, I think it is safe to say that LOOT is now hitting its stride. Watch what we do next!

TechRaptor: What sorts of titles is LOOT looking to publish?

David: Great ones. We love all kinds of games, from 2D/3D platformers and puzzle games, to hardcore endless runners, FPSs, RPGs, and even VR based games. We are searching the world for amazing games. There are plenty out there and more in development every day. However, with that being said, we do not publish every game that we come across. It has to have that special something that grabs us. We are looking for those exceptional titles that challenge the player in its own unique way. Our rigorous selection process of evaluating and choosing titles, helps make sure we are bringing the best of the best indie games to console audiences.

TechRaptor: With your initial line up, you seem to be focusing on Console ports. Is that the primary service you plan on providing?

David: For the time being. We are focusing on consoles but we are always looking for new ways to evolve our business. I believe a business is either always evolving or dying, LOOT will always be moving in new directions as we transform into the next iteration of an interactive entertainment developer/publisher.

TechRaptor: What led to LOOT’s departure from Sony?

David: The evolution of the LOOT business. We have always had a tremendous amount of support from Sony. As our business evolved, we realized it was time to leave the nest and spread our wings.

TechRaptor: What changes should developers and fans expect to see in LOOT?

David: Expect constant change. Developers should realize that, as we did with PlayStation Home, we are here to take the indie game publishing experience to the next level. Each game will take its own special journey through our publishing process. If your game is what we are looking for, we can help you in ways like never before. Our fans will not just see LOOT enter the game publishing industry but, as we have done before, we will push it to new limits. As we did in PlayStation Home.

TechRaptor: What are your goals for LOOT as an independent entity?

David: Same goals as always: “To crush our enemies, to see them driven before you…..well, you know the rest.” Just kidding, we always have the same goal: Be recognized as best in the world at what we do. Everything takes care of itself from there.

TechRaptor: Are you planning on developing any in house titles either for PlayStation or Mobile?

David: We just recently completed development on Pixel’s Dojo Quest for mobile in support of the upcoming Sony Pictures film. As of right now, we are concentrating on our publishing business. We have a lot to do.

TechRaptor: What can we expect at E3 from LOOT this year?

David: LOOT has quite a few tricks up our sleeve for this year’s E3. We wanted to really bring our A game to the show and kick off our independence with a strong showing of our summer titles, Whispering Willows, Back To Bed and Velocibox, at E3’s IndieCade (SH 601.) These games are awesome! They all come from a different direction, but challenge you every step of the way. Come see us at the IndieCade area. We always have time chat with our fans.

TechRaptor: Thanks for your time, is there anything else you’d care to add? 

David: Thank you, Tech Raptor, it has been such a pleasure to speak with you. And if I can add one more thing… To all the uber talented developers out there, bring us your games. We are always on the hunt for new and exciting ideas. Our door is always open. Just make sure you bring it.

We'd like to thank LOOT for getting in touch with us! If you would like to learn more about LOOT Interactive you can visit their site, which includes their past and future projects.